Monday, February 23, 2009

"HARDCORE" workout...how about the man with the most HARDCORE Abs ever?






Off from work today, I was able to sleep in a little longer than normal which was a good thing for recovery. I think a break was needed. I did absolutely nothing workout related other than watching my nutrition stay consistently solid all day yesterday. Lots of temptations to just say screw this, but hey - kept it in check all day yesterday which I'm very happy to share. Again, great recovery day yesterday so it's back to another day of "HARDCORE"- ness for Day 1 of a new, but very familiar Turbulence Training Program I'm currently doing...

After the gym, it was off to do my weekly groceries and errands (which I normally take care of on Mondays or Tuesdays) and finally was able to take care of everything I think I needed to take care of today which is good. Now I can just sit down, relax and blog for a few here.

As I was at our local grocery chain here, there is one place I like to hang out after pushing a grocery cart for 30 minutes to an hour which is the magzine racks...I like to read sports mags but what I do enjoy reading most are the fitness magazines one in particular is the Muscle and Fitness magazine. And better yet: it's free reading too! Hahaha! I haven't subscribed to this magazine for more than 3 years - I just never had the urge to even try any of those supplements they boast of, and most of their workouts are geared towards bodybuilding ala Mr. Olympia and stuff of that nature. I never wanted to be Arnold huge in that sense and nothing in that magazine really interested me that much because they would never tackle topics like core training, functional strength, circuit training or how to work on lean physiques and improve on muscle endurance and conditioning. But if you've ever read any of these magazines lately - it's funny how the magazine has evolved from 100% Beefcake workouts and supplements to now MMA training and athletic sports conditioning (anybody else notice this trend?). But I don't believe in this magazine because they cater to readers to buy useless supplements.

But if I see a cover story I like, I'll buy it every now and then.

But this issue had something special. The most celebrated abs man of all time: Bruce Lee. It's ironic he was one of the first people I ever posted in this blog...and to this day his name is still iconically legend. His abs are fantastic! That's why this month's issue really caught my eye.

I'd like to point out here a part of that cover story that most caught my eye. It has been reported he never liked to do crunches specifically. I believe he hated them. Instead he would do hanging leg raises with ankle weights. He would hang his legs in a straight position (L position), raise them all the way up to his face and then move them in a circular motion and then bring them down again. That's one rep. How crazy is that?!

I don't believe you have to be in tip top shape to do core work. I think it's something that should be trained at least 3x/week. Stronger core...better power, safer workouts. It all starts from a strong core.

But if his strong, adamant belief that "Power is in the core" is false to the uneducated...I think we should check out the cores of many of the current day combat fighters and athlete's who have tremendous cores: Pacquiao, St. Pierre, Penn, Terrell Owens - and the great female swimmer Dara Torres - to name a few. I think the core training philisophies and approaches that Bruce used to do, only got redefined in the 2k's.

I think Bruce Lee spearheaded the evolution to effective core training and quieted the belief that those endless sit ups were the only way to develop the core. I think with today's athletes...that thought process has changed tremendously.

I remember doing those endlessly...

You da man, Bruce!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice post, Andy...I agree, Bruce Lee was amazing in a lot of ways...including his abs.

Funny thing, after reading your post last night, I made a point of stopping by the grocery store at lunchtime, getting a salad and a few apples...and swinging by the magazines and reading the article in M&F that you posted about!

Ha! I stole your idea and decided to read it for free as well...(I confess, I do actually buy those mags every once and a while...)

Anyway, good post! (And good article in M&F about core training)

Thanks!

Andy said...

Awesome Fred! I understand you are very much into contact sports and I'm sure you agree: Bruce Lee had the baddest abs on the planet!!!

Thanks, Fred! Glad you learned a new tip! hahahaha!!!

Andy

Anonymous said...

It's funny how you mentioned hanging knee raises. I was just thinking that I should do some of those on my off days - great minds think alike!

Great points and great post, Andy!

Unknown said...

I love Bruce Lee interviews. The man had abs and was the innovator of extreme. He had to be one of the first (if not the first) to hook up a battery to his stomach so he could exercise the abs any time without actually working out.


Andy, your free subscription to Time magazine is waiting for you at 7-11...just don't try to take it home.